24/12/12 – Yuma to San Diego

For a long part of history Yuma provided one of the few safe places to cross the mighty Colorado River. In the old days at Yuma, where the southern Colorado was at its narrowest, it was still a raging torrent 1,000 feet wide. But nowadays, as a result of the construction of the many dams that now provide the many farms of the central Californian Valleys with water for irrigation, the strength of the river has been almost completely drained and it is now a shadow of its former self. In fact for many months of the year no water any longer actually flows from the river into the Gulf of Cortez.

Yuma is also the first place were the pioneer aviator Robert Fowler landed on his epic first ever flight from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. In fact there was even a statue of Fowler on the road next to the hotel where we stayed in Avenue 4E!

The trip to San Diego the next morning was eventful. We left Yuma with fine weather and a temperature of 72 degrees but this rapidly changed as we headed to the mountains. On the way we passed green fields, travelled through sand dunes and mojave desert, drove alongside a massive irrigation canal and through massive wind farms before climbing a mountain range (the Santa Rosa Mountains) that was made of neatly arranged piles of rocks. In the course of this journey we encountered high winds, clouds, rain, rainbows and fog so thick we were down to 20 mph!

But it was worth it because San Diego and Coronado Island in particular are beautiful.

 Peter and I both agreed that we could easily live here. This pleasurable feeling was significantly magnified by the fact that where we are staying, the Hotel del Coronado, is indeed one of the great hotels of the world. Its old world charm combined with excellent cuisine and unobtrusive service is impressive. This is the place where ‘Some Like It Hot’ with Marilyn Munroe was filmed. It has been the playground for Presidents and Kings since 1888. It is rumoured that Edward Prince of Wales met a ‘local girl’ Wallace Simpson here, but that’s a story for another time.

It was a joy to meet up with the Emerson’s again and go over fond memories of Perth and Alistair’s there month long stay with them here in Coranado during his gap year. We had drinks in our hotel then went to the Emerson’s favourite Mexican restaurant (where Barrow is the resident guitarist) for dinner. It was a bonus that Michael Emerson was able to join us and bring us up to speed on his political studies at University in Atlanta. The swordfish tortilla was sensational but it was early to bed for all of us as tomorrow is Christmas!